This invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for protecting wheels during removal and replacement of brakes and wheel bearings and particularly to apparatus and methods for preventing lubricants and other materials from contacting outer surfaces of dish-type wheels which permit removal of an axle from a vehicle without first demounting the wheel from the vehicle.
Dish-type wheels used in dual wheel configurations are typically comprised of a generally cylindrical rim upon which a tire is mounted and a disk fastened to one end of the rim. The disk extends outwardly along the cylindrical axis so that a pair of wheels may be fastened together at a hub to form a dual wheel configuration. Typically, the dish of the inner wheel faces inwardly toward the vehicle to enclose the hub assembly and the dish of the outer wheel faces outwardly so that the disks of the wheels may be mounted adjacent one another on the hub assembly. The axle extends outwardly from the juncture of the wheel disks into the dish of the outer wheel. Each dish, therefore, has a central opening for accommodating the axle and, in addition, has a plurality of openings to permit the use of lug bolts and nuts to fasten the wheels to the hub. The wheels for a large truck or trailer may typically have openings for ten lug bolts.
Wheels of this type are designed so that the axle may be removed from vehicle without the wheels being first demounted from the hub. The axles are removed to lubricate or replace wheel bearings and to perform other maintenance procedures, such as inspection and replacement of brake drums. First, the axle is removed through the central opening and then the rims, wheels and hub and drum assembly are all removed at the same time since they are fastened together by the lug bolts and lub nuts. This procedure is used for maintenance work on truck wheel bearings and brakes because of the large amount of time required to remove and re-install the wheels, which may be attached by ten lug bolts and corresponding lug nuts. Even though this procedure provides a significant time saving over a procedure which would involve first removing the wheels from the hub before removing the axle, ordinarily removing the axle while the wheels are attached to the hub causes a large amount of lubricant from the wheel bearings to fall upon the lower portions of the dish of the outer wheel. To avoid an unsightly appearance and to avoid the possible hazards and inconveniences associated with having wheel bearing lubricant on the outer portions of the wheels, it is necessary to clean the lubricant from the wheels before the vehicle may be placed in service after completion of the maintenance procedure. The usual procedure for removing the wheel lubricant from the outer portions of the wheels is steam cleaning, which requires one to two hours for a complete truck, depending upon the number of axles on the truck and the amount of lubricant which must be removed from the wheels.